Written by Jon Match
Idaho State women’s basketball continues its homestand this week as the Bengals welcome Sacramento State on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 PM MT. Then the University of Northern Colorado Bears come to Reed on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2:00 PM.
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available. The Saturday game against UNC will also be available on KISU 91.1 with Mark Liptak on the call.
Bengal Bites (With Thanks to Mark Liptak)
The Bengals remain the only Big Sky Schools unbeaten at home, the Bengals are 7-0 at Reed gym this season.
Dora Goles hit a free throw against St. Thomas on 12/11 to become the 21st member of the Idaho State 1,000 point club.
Tomekia Whitman leads the conference in steals, averaging 2.9 a game. She needs 5 more to break into the ISU single-season top-10 steals list.
In the game against Park on 11/13/21, Montana Oltrogge passed 500 career points.
The 109-56 win over park was the 2nd highest scoring game in Bengal history. (First place was a 113-107 win against Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament.)
The 53 point differential was the fourth highest in program history.
The Bengals 34 assists were one shy of the overall ISU record (35 vs NAU on 2-15-1992)
The Bengals 24 offensive Rebounds against Carroll College on 12/8/21 set a new team record.
*Ellie Smith is now in sixth place all-time in blocked shots with 121. In fifth place is Michele Grohs with 130 blocks. She played from 22005-2009. Ellie needs four points for 500 in her career.
*Estefie Ors has scored 1,591 points, she is now second all-time. The program all-time leader is Natalie Doma with 2,296 points. She played from 2004-2008.
*Ors is only the fifth player to score at least 1,500 points in program history.
*With her 33-point game vs. Montana State, Ors became the ninth player under Seton Sobolewski to score 30+ points in a game. It was the 11 th time overall with him as head coach.
*Ors is now in fifth place all-time in made field goals with 553. Next up is Grace Kenyon who hit 555 field goals and played from 2014-2019.
*Ors is just the sixth Bengal player to have at least 500 made field goals in a career.
*Estefie now has 231 made three-point shots in her career the best ever for the program.
*She became the 15 th player in ISU WBB history with at least 1,000 points and at least 500 rebounds when she had three boards vs. Toledo in the Cancun Classic.
*Ors is the eighth ISU WBB player with over 2,000 combined points and rebounds.
*Ors also is now at 330 assists which is which is tied for sixth place all-time with Angela Munger. She played from 1996-2000.
*Estefie has made 254 free throws which is good for 10 th all-time. Next up in ninth place is Holly Togiai with 268 made free throws. She played from 1994-1998.
*Estefie needs five steals to tie for 10 th place all-time at 142 with Stacey Nelson who played from 1993- 1997 and Grace Kenyon who played from 2014-2019.
*Estefie has played in 143 games for ISU. That is the all-time program record.
*Dora Goles became the 21 st ISU WBB player to pass 1,000 points in a career when she got 10 at St. Thomas (MN.) She’s scored 1,038 and counting. She currently stands at 19 th all-time. Next up with 1,050 points is Nancy Espeseth who played from 1980-1984.
*Goles is now in fifth place with 158 made three-point shots. Fourth on the list is Chris Urbanski who made 172 three-pointers in her career which spanned from 1997 through 2001.
*Goles is now eighth all-time in made field goals with 487. Next up is Andrea Lightfoot with 491 made field goals. She played from 2005- 2008.
*She is now in 10 th place all-time in steals at 143. Next up is Nancy Espeseth with 145 steals. She played from 1980-1984.
*Goles also needs nine assists to give her 300 for her career.
*Callie Bourne needs to play in one more game for 100 in her career.
*Diaba Konate is now at 710 points in her career.
*Tomeika Whitman’s 30-point game at Eastern Washington made her the 10 th different player to have a 30+ point game with Seton as head coach. It has happened 12 times overall since he has been in charge.
*Whitman needs two assists for 100 in her career. She also needs 10 steals for 100 in her career.
*Montana Oltrogge needs eight more made three-point shots for 100 in her career.
Numbers to Watch
8 – Number of Rebounds Dora Goles Needs for 350 in her career.
4 – Number of Assists Diaba Konate needs for 250 in her career.
16 – Points Montana Oltrogge needs for 650 in her career
9 – Points needed for Estefania Ors to hit 1600 in her career
4 – Number of Blocks and Points Ellie Smith needs for 125 career blocks and 500 career points
3 – Number of rebounds Tomekia Whitman needs for 250 career boards.
10 – Steals needed by Whitman for 100 in her career.
Quick Scout and Series History – Sacramento State
The Hornets are led by first-year head coach Mark Cambell who has led the Hornets to an 8-9 start this season.
Sac is averaging 64.6 points per game shooting 41.9 percent from the floor while opponents are averaging 66 ppg.
While Sac is 4th in the conference in 3pt percentage the team is last in 3pt percentage defense with opponents shooting .387 from behind the arc.
One of Sac’s star players is #24 Isnelle Natabou. While Sac is ranked last in the conference in team rebounds. Natabou is Ranked #1 individually averaging 11.1/game. Against Idaho and PSU Natabou had 22 boards! and in the past four games has had double-digit grabs.
#3 Lianna Tillman leads the team and the conference in scoring, averaging 19.1 ppg on 41.1 FG%. She also leads the conference in assists, averaging 6.1 per game.
The Bengals lead the all-time series 44-7 against the Hornets.
ISU has won nine of the last 10 meetings, their last matchup a 77-70 ISU victory in Sacramento to secure the season sweep of the Hornets.
In Pocatello, the Bengals are 21-1 against Sac, their only loss was 68-59 in 2016.
Quick Scout and Series History – Northern Colorado
Like the Hornets, the Bears are led by a first year Head Coach. Kristen Mattio took over the Bears program this summer. So far in 2021-22 the Bears are 5-9 with a 1-5 Big Sky Conference record.
The Bears lone conference win came on Jan. 22 against Eastern Washington.
UNC is averaging 58.1 ppg while opponents are scoring 60.2.
The Bears are strong on the glass as a team, holding opponents to an average 30.9 rb/game, which is best in the conference.
The Bears aso have the 2nd best scoring defense in the conference currently, holding opponents to 60.2 ppg. TheBengals are currently in 3rd.
#10 Hannah Simental leads the Bears in scoring averaging 12.4 ppg. #24 Kurstyn Harden is the only other Bear scoring in double-digits averaging 10.5 ppg.
The Bengals have a 24-12 all-time series lead vs the Bears. In Pocatello, the Bengals are 9-6 In their previous 10 games the Bengals are 5-5 with the Bengals taking the previous 5 meetings. The two teams last met in the 2021 Big Sky tournament semifinals, a 65-55 win for Idaho State.
